Apparatus for operating coke ovens with movable walls



31, 1946. PUENING 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18,1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 r womtov F. PUENINGI Bet. 341, 1946. 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING coxm OVENS WITH MOVABLE wALL 7 sheets-sheet 2 nl HU /l /l I,

31, 1946. F. PUENING 2,413,335 APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITHmo ABLEwALLs Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 M31, 1946. I UENING2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18,1943 'rsheets-sheet 4 F. PUENING APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITHMOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 31, 19%. F. PUIIENING1 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18,1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 F. PUENING APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITHMOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Dec. 31,1946 u no STATES PATENT orr ca are FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS at MDVABLEWALLS Frans u-r- Bethlehem, Pa. Application January 18, 1943, Serial No.472,886

, 19, 1941, whichdescribe ovens in which each coking chamber formedbetween a pair of movable walls is equipped with individual means forsealing the chamber separately from the atmosphere, there being noenclosure common to the several walls. The oven walls are preferablybuilt of fire-bricks and preferably are of very large size, as forinstance, 16 ft. by 30ft. and they are therefore quite sensitive tohostile forces. They can easily be warped or buckled, which in case ofbrick walls would cause cracks in the walls and gas-leaks between theheating flues on the one side and the coal chambers on the other hand,which is turn would destroy safety and economy of operation. Suchwarping would also mean that the width of some coal chambers isincreased while the width of the adjoining chamber is decreased with theresult that the thicker body of coal requires a longer coking time,resulting in loss of plant capacity and in uneven coke quality.Furthermore, such movable walls when suspended on jointed or otherwiseflexible hangers or supports are very sensitive to eccentric loads, andare easily swayed out of their alignment by the weight of eccentricallylocated inlets for heating gas and air and outlets for waste heat and bylayers of insulating materials, and by eccentric attack of the forcesrequired to move the walls. The hydrostatic pressure of the coal alsotries to press the top or the bottom portion of the walls apart and tomake them assume wedge-shaped position. It

' teract all distracting forces that might interfere with the successfulcommercial operation of large brick oven batteries and thus forestallexpenses and delays.

A further object of this invention has to do with the well-knowncharacteristic of low volatile coals, to swell during coking operationand to exert pressure against the oven walls. This pressure is fairlylow during the first and major portion of the coking period until thelast quarter of the period approaches, when the swelling increases morerapidly and may reach a pressure 15 Cla (fla v chamber.

peak quite destructive to the ovens. The precise moment when the maximumpressure peak is reached greatly depends upon the width of the On theaverage the peak is reached after 75% of the coking operation iscompleted. Therefore, ma 6'' oven which cokes in 4 hours the peak isreached after 3 hours; while in a 4" oven which cokes in 2 hours itwould be reached after 1 hours and in an 8" oven which cokes in 6 hoursit would "be reached in 4 hours.

It is an object of this invention to provide means which forestalldamage due to excessive swelling peaks by making certain that at thebeginning of the coking operation all chambers have equal width and byincreasing the width of all oven chambers in a battery uniformly, sothat with absolute certainty every part of each chamber receives thesame increment in width at the same moment during the coking operationand by thereafter, after the discharge of the coke, returning all wallsto exactly their original position in the battery, so that all pressurepeaks in all chambers in the battery develop at the same time andthereby neutralize each other, and are also reduced in height to avoid,during these motions of the walls, any Jerking or vibrating of the wallsin order to prevent disturbance of coke formation and damage to thewalls.

A further object of this invention has to do with the means for sealingthe coking chambers.

Since the new oven is intended for operation'on the largest commercialscale, it ls absolutely necessary, in view of the value of theby-products,

that the chambers remain perfectly sealed against the atmosphere, duringthe coking operation, also in case the width of the chambers isincreased during coking. Consequently sealing means are provided, whichpermit the chambers of a block to be expanded in width, for instancefrom 5" to 7", while the coking action proceeds, without therebyunsealing the chambers, the sealing means to be of a type adapted forcommercial simultaneous operation of many large coking chambers in abattery, and adapted to operate automatically and reliably and withoutloss of time, and to remain gas-tight in spite of the higher coal gaspressure in the chambers. which results from the high coking speed.

In order that the nature of the invention may be more clearlyappreciated, particular embodiments will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through a battery of coking ovens,comprising four coking chambers, the section being taken on the linei--i of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation through one of the coking walls, thesection being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial plan view upon the top sealing troughs, shown inFigures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a partial horizontal section through the battery taken onthe line 44 of Figure 2;

Figures 5, 6,7 and 8 show details of the topsupporting truck and themeans for moving it, shown also in the top right-hand corner of Figure1;

Figure 9 is a sectional elevation through onegf the spreading screwstaken on line 99 of Figure.

Figure 10 is a sectional plan view taken on lines ill-i of Figure 9;

Figure '11 is a sectional elevation taken on lines ii-H of Figure 9;

Figures 12'and 13 show details of the clutches shown also in Figure 9;

Figure 14 shows the centralized drives for moving the walls in endelevation, the view being taken on the line ll-l4 in Figure 1; and

Figures 15, 16 and l'l show details of the sealing means, shown also atthe upper right-hand corner of the coking wall in Figure 2.

Two rigid supporting towers I, see Figure 1, are set up at distancessufficient to permit between them the construction and operation ofpreferably only one battery of coking ovens comprising from six to tencoking chambers 2, sandwiched between movable walls 3, although onlyfour chambers are shown in Figure 1. The towers l serve to support twostrong girders l which in turn serve to support the coking walls 3.

Coking chambers 2 formed between walls 3 are heated by burners 6, seeFigure 2. Waste heat may leave through exit fiues equipped with flexibleJoints 1, permitting motion of the walls.

Each of the coking walls 3 is held together by a strong iron frame,having a horizontal bottom beam 8 and a horizontal top beam 8 and-twolateral vertical buckstays [0, these latter having upward extensions Hmaking connection with two movable trucks l2, composed of rollers l3,see Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, held together by chassis l4, roller plate l5balancing plate l6, supported above roller plate l5 by means of tiltingbearing H which prevents lateral motion between these plates; the truckbeing further composed of screw nut l8 held in its position by bolts 13and brackets 20. Theupward extensions ll of the buckstays are forked,see Figure 2, having a second branch-2| reaching upward and passingaround the outside of the girders and being connected to the outerportion of said trucks. outer branch of the forked extension can bequickly disconnected from the stronger inner branch I l by removingbolts 22 and 23, whereupon the coking wall with its frame can be liftedout of its position and replaced by another. Additional operating rails25 are provided above girdersl for the operation, for instance, of thecoal 'charging machinery, said operating rails being located above saidspreading trucks and supported by stools 26 built upon said girders inpositions between said buckstays. The top supporting trucks are thuslinked to the walls by stiff bucl" tays. The rollers l3 are equippedwith round finiges 21 which grip around the top flanges 21 which griparound the top flanges 28 of girder d. The roller plates l5 are of thesame width as the top flange 28 so that the lateral position of thebuckstays and the coking walls relative to girders ii is guaranteed byvirtue of these flanged rollers and the tilting bearings [1.

The outermost coking walls are protected against heat losses by heavyblankets of insulating brick-work 30, see Figures 1 and 4, and by slabsof concrete 3| and by a strong gridwork of iron beams 32, which absorbsthe pressure exerted by the coal during carbonization and preventswarping of the brick-walls. The insulating brickwork 30 and the concreteslab are held together by means of iron frames 33 similar to thosesurrounding each brickwall and these frames 33 also extend upward andmay be connected to their own top trucks but preferably they areconnected to the outer top trucks I2--a which carry the outer wall 3-4,these latter trucks being made correspondingly longer, so that the outerwalls 3a move in common with their insulating blankets and their irongridwork 32. Frames 8, 3, l0 and H of the coking walls are firmly tiedto the frames of the insulating walls 33 for instance by tie plates 34and 35, Figure 1.

For the purpose of forcing the walls to execute the desired accuratemotions and for holding them securely in their intended position,without allowing their frames any other possibility but to remain intheir intended vertical position, there have been provided six distanceregulating spindles 40 and l I, see also Figure 14, four of thesespindles are connected'to the iron frames surrounding the walls 3 whiletwo more are connected to the movable trucks l2. In the case of theouter coking walls which are connected to the iron grids 32 by tieplates 34, 35, the screw spindles are preferably connected to thesegrids 32 and not to the wall frames Ill.

The right-hand ends of the four lower spindles- 40 are supported intower I. Bearings 42,are provided to permit rotation of the spindles,see also Figure 9, while collars 43 are provided to stop longitudinalmovement of the spindles. The right-hand ends of the four spindles 40,see Figure 14, are equipped with worm-gear drives 45 driven by shafts l6and spur-gears l1 and 48 connecting to vertical shaft 49 connecting tomotor 50. The two top spindles 4| are driven by similar worm drives 52,spur-gears 53, vertical spindle 54 and spur-gears 55 connecting to shaft46 and to the same motor 50,

The six screw spindles 40 and 4| are equipped with screw threads ofincreasing pitches, so that in case of seven coking walls, thoseregulating the position of the outer walls have, for instance,

a pitch of V4", those for the middle walls have This the inner wallshave a pitch of while the position of the center wall is kept fixed bybeing connected to the screw shafts by means of simple bearing 56located between collars 51, see Figure 9. The direction of the screwthreads to the left of the center wall is opposite to the direction ofthe screw threads to the right, so that upon rotation of the motor allcoke chambers are jointly either widened or narrowed. The screw threadsfor the inner walls may have a single thread, those for next adjoiningwalls a double thread, and those for the next following wallsa triplethread. Upon their rotation the screws turn toward each other so thattheir turning impulses vertical shape and position are guaranteed by therigidity and strength of the tower. Furthermore, lateral or rotatingmotion of the walls within their vertical plane is made impossible bythe flanged rollers i3, and the horizontal tilting bearing i 8 betweenthe balancing plate I6 and the roller plate 85 which fix the lateralposition of the buckstays, and by the rigidity of'the upper extensionsii of the buckstays and by the fact that the screw spindles are flankingthe walls. This confinement of thewalls also has the advantage that theside sealing members remain in their intended alignment and gas-tight,see Figures 2 and 16. g

The screw spindles are located substantially near the corners of thewalls but more exactly at elevations where they are most effective incarrying the pressure exerted against the iron grids 32. The freeleft-hand ends of the screw spindles may be centered in the left-handtower or may be left free as shown in Figures 1 and 9.

The connection between the spindles 60 and the iron frames is shown inFigures 9, 10 and 11 the frame members or minor differences in heatexpansion of the,walls will not create binding forces which resist the.operation of the spindles.

6. an electric limiting device of standard type is provided in order toforestall that the walls are carried beyond their initial position anddamaged.

Such limiting device may, for instance, be connected to the top trucksor the screw spindles.

As already stated, it is intended to employ the oven also for the masscarbonization of coal of The thickness of the body of coal in eachchamber is fixed firmly by the screws, so that in case the speed of thecoal charging operation varies and one chamber is filled before theother, the static pressure of the coal will not distend that chamber,making that particular coal body thicker thus delaying its pressure peakwhile making the adjoining coal body thinner,

' thus advancing its pressure peak. The screws guarantee that thicknessof coal bodies in the chambers may be varied during coking and that itwill always be equal in all chambers.

The provision of the two top screw spindles 4| with their flangedrollers I3 has another important advantage, as follows: The brick-workof a wall, when heated expands sidewlse and presses against thebuckstay. This force subjects the side buckstays to a horizontal bendingforce parallel to the coking surfaces. The coal pressure also tries towarp the wall out of its vertical plane in a direction normal to thecoking surfaces. A

portion of this force is at times transferred to the side buckstays andsubjects them to-another bending stress normal to the coking faces. In-

the new oven with its high walls,'these two forces would require heavyand expensive side buckstays. However, by fixing each top truck in itsposition, by means of the two top screw spindles with their flangedrollers and tilting bearing, and by extending the wall buckstays rigidlyto these fixed trucks, the advantage is reached that each side buckstayis converted into a beam, the upper end of which is fixed, with theresult that its strength to resist deflection is more than doubled. Thusalso the use of very large brick-walls is facilitated.

For the returning of the walls to their initial closed position, themotor is started by hand and dangerously swelling type. For this purposethe following automatic pressure control is added.

The coal pressure is communicated fro'm brickwall to brickwall andflnally from the outer walls to the iron grids 32. The pressure is alsoat times transferred by each well to its own surrounding iron frame andfrom these through rotatable pins 62 and vertical set screws 83 and nut60 onto the four screw spindles til. These spindles are preferablycomposed, see Figs. 9, 10, of separate relatively short, hollow screwshells 8| threaded on their outsides for cooperation with nuts 60,andalso composed of unthreaded shell II. All shells ti and ii are incontact with each other, and each, at its point of contact with theother is shaped in the form of a jaw clutch 13 so that the rotationimparted by worm drive 65 to shell H is communicated to all screw shells6!. On the inside of the screw shells is provided hollow tension shaft15, being firmly fixed in its longitudinal position relative to thescrew shells by means of bolted on collars 63. lA further collar 44 isbolted onto shell H thus fixing the longitudinal position of the entirescrew spindle 40 relative to bearings 62, worm drive 45 and-tower I. Thestrength of this tension shaft 15 is so chosen, that the coal expansionforces are successful in stretching the shaft within safe elasticlimits, the increment in length of the shaft in case of a big commercialbattery being for instance $4; of one inch.

On the inside of tension shaft I5 is loosely placed a reference rod 11,its longitudinal position within tension shaft 15 being fixed by nutsI8. Two spools 19 are slipped over reference rod 11 with pressure springbetween them, strong enough to pull reference rod 11 as far as possibleout of tension shaft 15 without however stretching the rod. The distancebetween the spools is thus always a maximum and faithfully indicates thetension in the four tension shafts l5 and thereby the pressure of thecoal. Assuming the coal pressure were to be limited to 1 lb. per squareinch of coking walls, and the coking surfaces in contact with the coalwere 15' wide and 30' high, then the total pull on each tension shaftwould be 16,200 lbs., which can be safely carried by a 1" double extrastrong pipe, thereby stretching the pipe only about $4; inch. Thedistance between spools 19 will therefore be'decreased by inch, which isample for the operation of electric contact and control mechanism 82 and83 which is connected directly or by relay with motor 50. When contactpoints 83 touch each other the motor 50 is started and rotates all 6screw spindles with the result that the distance between all the wallsis increased until the contact points 83 have parted again, thuspreventing the coal pressure against the brickwalls from rising abovethe stipulated 1 lb. per square inch. This automatic pressure limitationremains active during the, entire coking time. Assuming that the widthof the coking chamber in the beginning of the operation when the chamberis filled with coal is 5 inches and that the coal chosen is of a typewhich swells 30% during carbonization when kept under a load of 1 lb.per square inch, then the described control mechanism will retract thewalls the distance between the walls can be still further increased, toobtain discharge of the coke, after the coking operation is completed.This hand-control is also used for reversing the motor, in order toreduce the chambers to their original width.

The assurance that the automatic pressure control prevents damage to thewalls gives the plant operator'the opportunity to raise the coking speedin the walls to a high level thus increasing the thruput of the ovensand their revenue. The reference rod 11 is needed in only one shaft.

The bottom door 85 and its supports; see Fig. 1,

are arranged to permit the spreading motion of the walls. The door ishinged around the shaft 85 attached to beam 8 of wall 8. The other sideof the door is supported by horizontal bolt 81 forming part of thebracket 88, which is rotatable around fulcrum 88. When the walls arespread apart, bracket 88 and bolt 81 follow the horizontally recedingdoor 85. If the coke is to be discharged, piston 88 belonging to thecoke discharge ma'chine, not shown, is pushed upward against buifer 8|of bracket 88, whereby the horizontal bolt 81 is forced to the left andpermits door 85 to drop.

Provisions have been taken to keep the coking chambers gas-tight, whilethe automatic spreading during coking operation takes place. a

The bottom opening of each coking chamber is sealed with the aid of atub-shaped water filled door 85 shown in Figures 1 and 2 into which dipthe bottom skirts 84 of the coking walls and the lowest ends oftheside'frame plates 85 and of the side seals 86 and 81. The bottomskirts 84 extend laterally till they are in contact with and fixed ingas-tight manner to the lowest ends of the side frame plates 85. Theskirts are pressed against bottom frame plates 85, so that horizontalsliding is Possible and expansion bends 88 are provided in each bottomskirt, so that gastight continuity of the bottom sealing means isassured in spite of heat expansion of the walls. Coke-breeze may befilled in on top of the bottom door thus keeping the coal away from thedoor' as it is customary with intermittent vertical ovens. Fig. '1 showsthat the internal width of the doortub is ample in comparison to thedistance between the two bottom skirts ,84 that there is liberty toincrease the distance between the walls and the skirts, withoutcollision between skirts and door-tub. I

The sides of the chambers are sealed by side seals preferably composedof triple sets of sealing pieces. Figure 16 shows the vertical sideedges of adjoining coking walls I which are permanently and flexiblysealed against each other by side sealing members comprising threecoacting relatively heavy metal members 88 and 81, pressed intocontinuously gas-tight pressure touch with each other and with the sideframe plates 85- by means of tension springs I88, which are hooked ontothe side frame angles I8I. These side frame angles are preferably simplypressed 'upon the side frame plates 85 by means of runs I81 fastened tothe angles NH and by bolts I88 and batten plates I84 belonging tobuckstays l8.

Metal members 98 and 81 stand upon each other and due to their weightthe horizontal joints I 85, Figs. 1'1 and 2, between them are pressedtogether and sealed. The pressure may be increased by addition ofsprings. The metal members may sh ping, storing and handling of thesub-divided sealing parts is much facilitated and cost reduced. Alsotheir subdivision into short pieces permits the use of cast iron, whichis corrosion regiisting. an important feature in coking opera- In orderto facilitate the assembling of these side members, projections may beprovided on them which can be gripped by airs of tongues or vises. Thissystem of side sealing members permits spreading of the walls duringcoking, while keeping the chambers as-tight.

In order to seal the top opening of each coking chambers! during coking,the chamber is surrounded on top by a continuous water filled trough,see Fig. 3, the two longitudinal sections of which I81 are slidablyfastened to angles I88, Figs. 15 and 1, which are fixed upon the topframe plates I88 of the walls, while the gaps between the ends of thelongitudinal sections I81 are bridged by semi-circular flexible bridgingtroughs II8. A removable bell-shaped cover II2, Figs. 1,

U-shaped extensions IIl Figures 15, 17, welded onto the side frameplates. The space between .the longitudinal sections and the U-shapedvalleys is made gas-tight by means of packing material III.

The bridging troughs in Figures 15 and 1'7 are composed of metal links II8 having trough shape and fitting together in the manner of swivel orball joints. The links are pressed into water-tight connection with eachother and with .the longitroughs I81 by means of tension springsReferring to Figure 2, water is maintained in reservoir I22 at level I28by means of supply line I24 and overflow pipe I25, and from thereservoir it flows through hose I28 into the bridging trough II8. Thesefiexible water filled troughs in con junction with the bell-shaped coverpermit spreading of the walls during coking, while keeping the chambersgas-tight.

The side sealing members continue upward to the height occupied by thetop edges of the bridging troughs. The semi-circle described by thebridging trough is of ample diameter so that it surrounds the upper endsof .the side sealing members 88, 81. To effect an elastic and gas-tightconnection between the uppermost ends of the side sealing members andthe members of the side sealing trough an elastic packing body III hasbeen provided, which is concentrically located between these groups ofsealing members. Figures 17 and 2 show the packing body. whichpreferably is an inflated tube which may be applied in several layers,although only one layer is shown in the drawings. To effect theinflation, a fiuid. for instance, water or low pressure steam is pressedinto the tube through pipe "I. The

. pressure is'regulated to create gas-tightness, but

a very low pressure is suilicient in view of the fact that the gaspressure inside the coking chamber To enable the bridgingtrough I ID towithstand the pressure exerted by the inflated tube I30, springs I20 arechosen to have suflicient strength. To enablethe' individual sections ofthe side seals to stand upon each other, brackets I32, see Fig. 2, havebeen provided extending from side frame plates 95 and brackets I33extending from side sealing members 91, said brackets beinginterconnected by adjustable hangers I34 which serve to hold the lowestside sealing members in their position, so that the superposed memberscan rest on them. Means are also provided for holding the bridgingtrough in its position, consisting of ribs I36 cast ontotrough member II0 and guiding bolts I31 screwed into side frame plates 95. In ordertoexpedite removal of by-products from the chambers and to prevent theircondensation I near the side seals, steam or tar-free gas may be K blowninto the space between the side sealing members 96 and 91,

By sealing each coking chamber flexibly and by retaining the water inthe top troughs and tub-doors during motion of the walls and bypermanently connecting the side seals to the top troughs, spreading ofthe walls during coking is made possible, while keeping the chambersgas-tight, and also in case of non-swelling coals which do not requirespreading, the advantage.

is gained that the time lost in breaking and remaking the seals isavoided, and heat losses from the chambers are reduced. The bottom sealalthough it is interrupted when opening the bottom door isre-established in gas-tight manner when closing the 'door and filling itwith water.

These advantages make it possible to operate very large coking plantswith greatly improved economy in labor and time.

The new spreading mechanism permits motion of a large number of walls ina steady, vibrationless motion without jerking or shaking of the walls,or of the coke while in statu nascendi.

This is of greatest importance because large brick-walls of commercialsize, for instance, 16' width and 30' height are very vulnerable.

The screws give common guiding to all walls,

they have huge strength, producing a uniform quiet motion and they havesimplicity. The flexibility of the jointed hangers is eliminated.

Eliminated are also the side swaying and the tilting of the walls andtheir rotation caused by eccentric load of Waste heat outlet, vaporofitakes and insulating masses at times when the.

each of the chambers has its own individualseals, which must be kept ingood condition. The seals are automatic and neither consume time norrequire manual labor. They do not create friction which would resistspreading.

Sliding seals which may glue together are avoided. The side seals passup on the inside of coking chambers of largest size.

the bridging troughs, so that they can expand and contract freely invertical direction without disturbing the, bridging trough. Motion'ofthe tube shaped" inflated gasket is a rolling one instead of a glidingand stretching one.

Swelling of the coal during operation is permitted in commercialoperation in entire batteries containing pluralities of huge chambers.Warping and buckling. of the walls is thus avoid.- ed. The newarrangement safely guides each wall. individually back to itsv originalposition.

An undesired characteristic of low volatile coals is the heavy densecoke which'they make, which-is too dense for blast furnace coke. Thisquality can be avoided by setting the pressure limitation contact sothat the spreading motion of the walls begins at such a low swellingpressure, that a more porous coke is produced.

A battery has been produced, which permits the construction of hugeplants, consisting of independent batteries, each containing many Eachof the batteries is safer than an equivalent number of other ovens, dueto its possibility of expansion, and is therefore able to carbonizecoals more rapidly and at a lower cost than normal ovens,-

is the merit of the new battery that damage. in

these cases is forestalled.

All spreading screws are located in the open and accessible. In case ofverysmall walls the 2 top screws may be omitted. It is possible to keepanother wall than the centerwall stationary if desired.

Only 4 chambers are shown in the drawings, but it is intended to use atleast 6, but also 8 or 10 in one battery.

The present improvement permits of an additional improvement, which isimportant for badly swelling low volatile coals. Due to the greaterheight of fall, the density of the charge in the coking chamber ishigher near the bottom than near the top. As a result the swellingpressure of the coal is higher in the lower part of the.

oven, so that the coking speed of the entire oven must be adjusted downto correspond to this 10 cally denser coal.

This can be remedied in the new invention by .first charging the coaland then'immediately thereafter widening the chamber, giving the coal anopportunity to squat down in theoven, with the effect that thevariations in density are equalized, the new densities, after thesquatting down, obeying the laws of the'behavior of solids in silos andthus being substantially equal over the entire height, this method ofequalizing the charge densities being especially efiective if dry coalis used. Thus coking begins with a charge of equal density from top tobottom, resulting in a uniformly porous coke, suitable for blastfurnaces and special purposes.

In special cases the coal may be compressed between the walls aftertheinitial spreading motion has brought uniformity of density to thecharge.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality able with respect toeach other and having a plurality of coking chambers interposed betweensaid walls, in which the position of each wall is controlled by screwspindles passing laterally of said walls and by screw nuts attached toeach of said walls and surrounding said spindles, said spindles havingscrew threads of opposite directions and of rising pitches adapted tospread the walls apart and to move them together again, the drives ofsaid spindles being centralized into one common source of power, anautomatic device for maximum pressure control being installed intocooperative position with one or more of said screw spindles, saiddevice being adapted to start the motor and widen all coking chambersuniformly during the coking operation thus preventing accumulation ofexcessive coal-pressure in the chambers.

2. In a battery of coking ovens, having internally heated coking walls,which are relatively movable with respect to each other, means foravoiding excessive coal-pressure consisting in tension shafts for tyingadjoining walls to each other, a sensitive tension operated controllerin cooperation with at least one of said shafts, said controller beingactuated by the stretching of said shaft and means operated by saidcontroller for automatically relaxing the tension in said shafts byincreasing the distance between said walls byequal increments, andflexible sealing means adapted for keeping each chamber gastight whilesaid distance is being increased.

3. In a battery of coking ovens, having a plurality of internally heatedcoking walls, which ar relatively movable with respect to each other andhaving a plurality of coking chambers interposed between said cokingwalls, means automatically controlled by the pressure of the coal insaid chambers for equally expanding the width of the chambers by motivepower during the coking operation without breaking the gas-sealssurrounding said chambers, means controlled by the operator for wideningthechambers still more after conclusion of the operation adapted tofacilitate discharge of the completed coke and means to return saidwalls to their initial operating position.

4. A coking oven comprising internally heated coking walls, which arerelatively movable with respect to each other, each wall beingsurrounded by an iron frame comprising a lower frame beam, an upperframe beam and two vertical lateral buckstays, a pair of top girdersbeing located at a distance above said walls, said girders being adaptedto support said walls, a pair of movabletrucks placed upon said girders,said trucks being adapted for being laterally guided by said girderswhile moving on said girders, said lateral buckstays having rigid upwardextensions fastened to said trucks in laterally fixed positions, adaptedto convert said buckstays into fixed beams having higher resistance todeflection.

5. A battery of coking ovens having a, plurality of internally heatedcoking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each otherand having a plurality of coking chambers sandwiched between said cokingwalls, in which each of the two coking walls occupying an end-positionin the battery is equipped with an insulating wall and an iron retaininggrid, all said walls and the two grids being supported in theirelevation on movable trucks resting on top girders all coking andinsulating walls and grids being fixed in the 12 relative horizontaldistances by means of horizontal screw spindles to which they areconnected by means of screw nuts, said screw spindles and nuts havingincreasing pitches adapted upon rotation of the screw spindles toincrease or decrease the width of each coking chamber.

6. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality of internally heatedcoking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each otherand having a plurality of coking chambers sandwiched between said cokingwalls, in which each of the two coking walls occupying an end-positionin the battery is equipped with an insulating wall and an iron retaininggrid, all said walls and the two grids being supported in theirelevation on movable trucks resting on top girders, all coking andinsulating walls and grids being fixed in their relative horizontaldistances by means of horizontal screw spindles to which they areconnected by means of screw nuts, said screw spindles and nuts havingincreasing pitches adapted upon rotation of the screw spindles toincrease or decrease the wldth of each coking chamber, the screw pitchof the center-wall being zero while the pitches of the adjoining wallsincrease with their distance from the center-wall, the direction ofscrews to the left of center-wall being opposite to that of the walls toits right, all threads being adapted upon their simultaneous rotation tospread all walls away from the center-wall and increase the width of allchambers equally.

7. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality of internally heatedcoking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other,and of which each is accessible on its narrow noncoking sides, all wallsbeing assembled below a portal-structure, comprisingtwo vertical towersand two horizontal girders resting on top of said towers, said wallsbeing movably suspended from said girders for horizontal motion at thesame elevation, the vertical position of the coking faces of each ofsaid walls being fixed in its vertical plane by horizontal distanceregulating screw spindle, means threaded into screw nuts attached tosaid walls, said screw spindle means connecting each of said walls withat least one of said towers.

8. A coking .oven with internally heated walls, which are relativelymovable with respect to each other, in which each of said walls issuspended from two movable trucks, guided by and supported on horizontalgirders, resting on vertical supporting towers and adapted to maintainthe walls at a constant height, the coking face of each wall beingmovably maintained in its vertical alignment by at least four horizontalsets of screw spindles, extending substantially from the four corners ofeach wall and connecting to four driving devices, fastened to one of thevertical supporting towers and by two additional sets of screw spindles,attached to the spreading trucks and extending from them to drivingdevices located in positions above said driving devices fastened to saidsupporting towers, all said driving devices being connected with eachother and centralized into one motor drive, located in one of saidtowera.

9, In a battery, of brick-coking ovens having hollow internally heatedcoking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other,each of said walls being surrounded by an individual iron frame, andhaving carbonizing chambers, which are sandwiched between said walls andwhich are individually sealed by a continuous ring of sealing meanswhich completely surrounds the outer narrow faces of the chamber, and inwhich said frames as well as :said sealing means are'exposed to andaccessible from the atmosphere, and in which said sealing means comprisea removable charg ng and a removable discharging door, means for varyingthe distance between adjacent walls, said means consisting of screwspindles acting upon the iron frames surroundin the walls and ofadditional spindles acting upon upper extensions of said frames, all'said screw spindles having a central drive, said drive being operable byan automatic coal-pressure limitin controlling device or by hand,

10. In a battery of brick-built coking ovens having hollow internallyheated coking walls which are relatively movable with respect to eachother, each or" said walls'being surrounded by an individual iron frame,means for varying the distance between adjacent walls, said-meansconsisting of screw spindles acting upon the iron frames surroundingsaid walls, the connecting link between said wall frame and each of saidscrew spindles comprising a threaded nut fastened to said frame by meansof a flexible-co nection, adapted to permit irregularities in the shapeand the heat expansion of the frames. 11. In a battery of coking ovenshaving internally heated walls, which are relatively movable withrespect to each other, side sealing devices, means adapted to press saidside sealing devices upon the heated walls in gas-tight connection, topsealing devices adapted to permit unobstruch ed cleaning of said sidesealing devices and comprising flexible continuous water troughssurrounding the upper ends of the side sealing devices in gas-tightcontact with said side-sealing atlases ovens, comprising a plurality ofinternally heated ing a plurality of chambers sandwiched between saidwalls, each of said walls being accessible from the atmosphere on itsouter narrow noncoking faces, gauging means responsive to the devices,and meansforminggas-tight connections between said top sealing devicesand the heate walls. 7

12. In a baking oven comprising internally heated walls, which arerelatively movable with respect to each other and a coking chamber sandwichedbetween said walls and means for spreading said walls apart,flexible side sealing devices and flexible water-containing sealingtroughs for I the top charging opening, comprising at their extreme endsflexible semi-circular return bends,

said side sealing devices extending upwardly to the elevation of thetop-edges of said return bends, said return bends being of such ampleradius that they surround said side sealing devices, and an elasticpacking body, inserted laterally between the flexible return bends andthe upper ends of the flexible side seals.

13. A battery of narrow, high-speed coking 55 wall, pressure in saidchambers, means actuated by said gauging means for causing said walls torecede from each other during coking operation upon increase of saidcoal pressure, and sealing means for keeping each of said chamberssealed against the atmosphere during the recession of the walls, saidsealing means being accessible from the atmosphere.

i 14. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality of internally heatedcokingwalls, which are mov- I able with respect to each other and havinga plurality of coking chambers interposed between said walls, in whichthe position of each wall is controlled by screw spindles passinglaterally of said walls and by screw nuts attached tosaid walls andsurrounding said spindles, said spindles having screw threads of risingpitches adapted to spread the walls apart and to movethemtogether'again, the drives of said spindles, being centralized into onecommon source of power, an automatic device for maximum pressure control being installed into cooperative position with one or more of saidscrew spindles, said device being'adapted to start the motor and widenall coking chambers uniformly during the coking operation thuspreventing accumulation of exces- V sive coal-pressure in the chambers.

15. In a battery of brick-coking ovens having hollow internally heatedcoking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other,each of said walls being surrounded by an individual iron frame, andhaving carbonizing cham- Gil bers, which are sandwiched between saidwalls.

and which are individually sealed by a continuous ring of sealing meanswhich completely surrounds the outer narrow faces of the chamber, and inwhich said frames as well as said sealing 5 means are exposed to andaccessible from the atmosphere, and in which said sealing means comprisea removable charging anda removable discharging door, means for varyingthe distance between adjacent walls, said means consisting of screwspindles acting upon the iron frame surrounding the walls, all saidscrew spindles having a central drive, said drive being operable by anautomatic coal-pressure limiting controlling de vice or by hand.

. FRANZ PUENING.

